Manifesto for a Global Alliance of the public relations and communication profession

Preface

Public relations as an organised profession in democracies is less than one hundred years old, while good public relations and communication practice is now at the heart of many successful organisations throughout the world.

Today, just about in every country in the world there is an association of public relations and communication management professionals to promote high standards, and to bring people together for professional development opportunities and networking.

Several such associations, some with international stature, have in the past tried to bridge a gap between what we can offer globally and what we currently achieve. These highly useful efforts suffered however of lack of co-ordination of messages being delivered to an increasingly global environment even though, as subsequent benchmarking has shown, we were not at opposite ends of the spectrum on any given issue.
Recently, we have recognised an urgent need for consistency, co-ordination and overall advocacy.

Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management

We have therefore created a forum where all associations representing public relations professionals from around the world can share resources and seek to achieve greater unity in the profession by collaborative efforts between national public relations and communication associations and constructive relationships with regional, specialty and other international groups.

What does the Global Alliance mean for the individual practitioner?

The aim of the GA is to foster growth of participating national associations by unifying the profession and offering each of our respective domestic members access to the vast resources of GA partners. While the Alliance does not have individual membership it is designed to offer the maximum benefits to every single member of its partner associations.

Also, since we are not competing between ourselves, we wish to collaborate to the fullest degree possible, share knowledge and resources, access documents, professional development events, conferences and handbooks to be offered at member rates to each of the members of our partner associations.

The Alliance will enhance networking opportunities for professionals and serve as an umbrella clearing house for examining ethical standards, professional accreditation options, advocacy and other initiatives designed to strengthen the profession around the world.

What is the GA working on?

Through collaboration and goodwill, we have embarked on an ambitious work plan. We have adopted a strategic plan at our annual meeting in Quebec (pdf) (June 2004) Most of these projects have medium to long term objectives and will take time to move forward. However, we have been mindful of the need to have early successes and build momentum. As the GA gains strength and momentum, we will be in a position to fulfill the original vision of ‘one profession-one voice’.

How can you become involved in our work?

In consulting the list of work groups, any individual may want to join the virtual project teams that are collaborating on the various tasks. If you have an interest and the time to offer on any of these work groups, please contact any of our member associations also through our web site www.globalpr.org.

The potential for the Alliance is immense and will only be achieved through the individual and collective commitment of its members.